By Garvin Karunaratne

It is sad to note that ever since the International Monetary Fund(IMF) took over running our country at the end of 1977, the Central Bank has been playing a dubious role.

Let us take the devaluation of our Rupee. I quote from my book: How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development:

In 1977 with the Structural Adjustment Programme being enforced on Sri Lanka  the control of our foreign exchange went out of the control of the Central Bank to the foreign banks and to the private sector.

President Jayawardena meekly submitted and the Rupee was devalued from Rs 15.00 to Rs. 32.00 to a pound sterling in a few months at the end of 1977. That was a devaluation of over a 100%! Thereafter the IMF repeatedly tried to get the two State banks privatized but the Government resisted. In many countries the State banks are no more  and the foreign banks really control the foreign exchange of the country.

Let us go into detail because no one will believe this. It is really the height of absurdity to even think that the foreign exchange of Sri Lanka is controlled by the foreign banks and the private companies.  But this is the hard truth.  Even our celebrated economists fail to get out of the clutches of their text books to understand how  the IMF has commenced controlling our economies.

The IMF itself has said:

In a free floating regime the exchange rate is determined by the market forces. The Central Bank does not intervene in the process.. The Central Bank has control over the domestic money supply”

Let us look at what happened in reality when Sri Lanka  free floated the Rupee in 2001.

The incoming foreign exchange itself was manipulated by the foreign banks to earn profits. When the two State banks had to pay a large bill in foreign currency and the two public sector banks did not have sufficient foreign funds to meet the bill, they had to buy foreign currency from the foreign banks that had collected  foreign currency and were hoarding it,  The foreign banks then increased  the price of the foreign exchange they held. This did happen in Sri Lanka on 25/1/2001 when the US $ that was trading around Rs 82.00 was increased to Rs. 100.00 and Rs. 106.00. The profit in this increase goes to the foreign bank. The State banks had to buy the  dollars at the high price quoted by the foreign bank. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka was helpless. The Central Bank said: ’In a free floating regime the market forces determine the exchange rate.. The Central Bank does not intervene in the process.. The Central Bank has control only over the domestic money supply.’(The Island.lk 17/2/2001)

This is the policy even today(2020) Thus even the foreign exchange earnings of a sovereign country  is a commodity exploited to make a profit.

The manipulation of currencies is quite a common occurrence”.(From How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(2017, pg 44)

My opinion is that we do not require a vast Central Bank to handle the domestic Rupee. A senior administrator from the Administrative Service can easily handle that task with a few Accountants and clerical officers

This detail of what did really happen in Sri Lanka on 25/1/2001 illustrates the predicament in which our country is faced. We do not even get the foreign exchange that comes in. The foreign exchange that is collected by each bank is treated as the property of that bank and they can manipulate an increase in the sale price by hoarding the currency they have collected. Each bank fixes its own buying and selling rates. Let me tell my own experience of how the foreign banks hoard our foreign currency. – In around 2000 I instructed my Bank, the Bank Of Scotland to remit a thousand pounds to my NRFC Account at the Bank of Ceylon. I was due to go on a holiday to Myanmar and I needed dollars. Strangely this money came to my NRFC in Rupees and the Bank of Ceylon Foreign Branch told ,me that this happens very often. They told me that the Rupees were sent by Standard Chartered Bank and directed me to them. Standard Chartered refused to credit the money in pounds to my NRFC account and I had to have a bitter fight with them for two full days, even throwing my weight about to get the money in dollars. At that times there were around four SLAS officers who had worked directly under me who were Secretaries of important Ministries and I had to quote their names.  With that the bank caved in. This proves the fact that the local foreign banks fight to get hold of the dollars that come in.” (From: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success.

This happened in 2000 and imagine the hoarding of our foreign exchange the foreign banks have been doing upto now.

Going further into our foreign exchange- what happens to the foreign exchange that is collected by private registered money changers- and they do collect far more than all the banks put together. The fact is that the foreign exchange collected by money changers is sold immediately to customers with a profit. There too the Money Changer fixes the  rate. It is important to note that this money does not come into thde

This collection does not come into the coffers of our Government. 

What is the possible remedy. This is simple. Have a currency board and the Government has to collect the total foreign exchange that  comes in, The Government has to fix the buying and sales price and all banks and dealers have to buy and sell at the rates fixed by the Government. Professor Steve Hanke of the USA  is perhaps the only world authority on this aspect. He came in when similar foreign exchange  problems cropped up in Turkey and in Indonesia. There he recommended that the only way is to abandon floating and install an orthodox currency board with a fixed exchange rate.”

It is the height of absurdity to allow our hard earned foreign exchange to be manipulated by foreign banks- to make a profit.

To my thinking  . Every dollar that comes in has to be the guarded property of the Government.

There are further developments that have come about which deserves immediate attention  by our Central Bank.

In the past few decades money transfers are made without reference to banks. Dollars are paid in a foreign country to  dealers and telephone instructions are made to hand ovcr  rupees in Sri Lanka. No dollars get sent to Sri Lanka.  Ways and means have to be developed to get this money sent to Sri Lanka in dollars.

There are many investors that bring in a small investment, get down to trade in the local rupee and take away the profit in dollars from our reserves for ever.  This is I think not allowed by the recent decision of the Government not to allow the  repatriation of  profits. However investors would have entered into agreements to enable them to take the profit in dollars. These go from our reserves. Our country is the net loser.

Another recent development is for Uber eats and Uber Cars to trade in local rupees and take away profits in dollars. This is not a small amount when one notes that Uber Eats delivered 3 million orders within 3 months( AdaDerana:17/10/2018) Here too it is our foreign exchange reserves that gets depleted when profits are repatriated. Hope this is covered by the recent decision to stop repatriation of profits.

Another development is in hotel bookings. Advertising hotel availability is today, totally handled by foreign companies based overseas. They take the bookings but the condition is that the payment is to be collected by the hotel in local Rupees. However the hotelier gets an invoice from the international booking agency to pay 15% of the collection. The hotelier takes this invoice to a bank and the bank pays it in dollars. Here too our reserves suffer. Not a dollar has come in but out goes the payment in dollars again from our reserves. In fact it is important to note that tourism as happens today does not bring in foreign earnings.  The answer lies in out tourist authority running a business to market hotel bookings  using the internet and charge in foreign currency. There is no other way. An immediate decision is to stop paying the 15% to the foreign booking agency in dollars unless the hotelier gets paid in dollars and the dollars are banked by the hotelier in a bank. . 

It is time that our Central  Bank sleuths come out of their slumber and get down to  real hard thinking as to what happens to our foreign exchange. It is the Central Bank and no one else that can look into this.

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University

Author of  How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative Programmes of Success, Godages, 2006 How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, Kindle/Godages: 2017

19/06/2020,

Source: Michael Snyder, Guest Post

 Are you starting to get the picture? China is on the rise. If you doubt this, just read the following: 

# When you total up all imports and exports, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.           

# Overall, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 2.3 trillion dollars.           

# China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.           

# China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.           

# China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States does.

# After being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.           

# China is the number one gold producer in the world.           

# The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China.           

# 85% of all artificial Christmas trees the world over are made in China.           

# The new World Trade Centre tower in New York is going to include glass imported from China .           

# China now consumes more energy than the United States does.           

# China is now in aggregate the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.           

# China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.            

# China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.           

# China produces 3 times as much coal and 11 times as much steel as the United States does.           

# China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.           

# China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of any national defense system.           

# In published scientific research articles China is expected to become number one in the world very shortly.           

 Are you starting to get the picture? In future China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States. Chinese acquisition of U.S. businesses set a new all-time record last year, and it is on pace to shatter that record this year. The Smithfield Foods acquisition is an example. Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world. It has facilities in 26 U.S. states and it employs tens of thousands of Americans. It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with approximately 2,100 others. But now a Chinese company has bought it for $ 4.7 billion, and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer in dozens of rural communities all over America.            

Thanks in part to our massively bloated trade deficit with China, the Chinese have trillions of dollars to spend. They are only just starting to exercise their economic muscle.

It is important to keep in mind that there is often not much of a difference between the Chinese government” and Chinese corporations”.  In 2011, 43 percent of all profits in China were produced by companies where the Chinese government had a controlling interest in it.

Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6 billion to purchase AMC entertainment – one of the largest movie theatre chains in the United States. Now that Chinese company controls more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world.

But China is not just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power. Economic beachheads” are being established all over America.

For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama. Many of the residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs, but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on communist China.

And guess where else Chinese companies are putting down roots?  Detroit.  Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology, selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores, and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers. If you recently purchased an American-made” vehicle, there is a really good chance that it has a number of Chinese parts in it. Industry analysts are hard-pressed to put a number on the Chinese suppliers operating in the United States .           

China seems particularly interested in acquiring energy resources in the United States.  For example, China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee. Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent 616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee. At the time, that acquisition really didn’t make much news, but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee is trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up

their mountains and taking their coal.

And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries. Right now China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus.           

Are you starting to get the picture? China is on the rise. If you doubt this, just read the following: 

And what we have seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Source: Michael Snyder, Guest Post

Viraj Kithsiri 

BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera told the PCoI probing Easter Sunday carnage yesterday many detailed accounts of the activities of the extremist groups .

The yeoman service this Thera has done to bring this to the notice of the authorities over the years is well known. He has been lambasted many a time very unfairly by many but no surprise if you find the supporters of such extremists behind this public criticism.

The politicians in power always showed a blind eye to his complaints and rather were happy to project him as a militant Bhikku to stay in power with the support of such extreme groups in their alliance.

However the country has come to appreciate,no doubt  the importance of these disclosures which if not of his brave stance would never have come to light.

It is also disappointing to see the print media continue to print his photo always in a militant stance which is a disservice to the people who await eagerly to bring punishment to these wrong doers.

Media Unit, Dr Thilaka Padma Subasinghe Memorial Law Education Programme,

A preliminary objection has been taken under Section 39 of the Judicature Act that a rent case filed in the District Court of Colombo has no jurisdiction for the case to proceed.

The inquiry regarding the preliminary objection was held by way of written submissions and the plaintiff’s lawyer had submitted the written submissions along with judgments and several letters in English language.

The district court rejected the preliminary objection raised regarding that there was no jurisdiction to proceed the case after considering the written submissions and ordered to file the answer.

Accordingly, the defendant had filed the answer with a cross claim and request for the translations of the judgements and other documents in Sinhala language which were filed with written submissions on behalf of the plaintiff under Article 24.3 of the Constitution and procedural procedure of the District court  before commencing the pre trial.

Article 24.3 of the Constitution is as follows;

Any judge, juror, party or applicant or any person legally entitled to represent such party or applicant, who is not conversant with the language used in a court, shall be entitled to interpretation and to translation into Sinhala or Tamil provided by the State, to enable him to understand and participate in the proceedings before such court and shall also be entitled to obtain in such language any such part of the record or a translation thereof, as the case may be, as he may be entitled to obtain according to law.

The order regading the translations to be obtained in Sinhala language was to be delivered on April 2nd, but due to the curfew imposed by the Covid-19 situation, the cases which were reserved for calling on 2nd of April were called on 15th of June and the above mentioned order was again reseved on July 15th.

This legal issue is considered in Court number 03 of the District Court of Colombo.

This is an English translation of the article:
‘දිසා අධිකරණයට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කරන නඩු තීන්දු සහ ලේඛනවල පරිවර්තන සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ලබා දිය යුතුද? නියෝගය ජූලි 15 ට කල් යයි…!’ Media Unit,
Dr Thilaka Padma Subasinghe Memorial Law Education Programme,

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන,

දිසා අධිකරණයට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කරන නඩු තීන්දු සහ ලේඛනවල පරිවර්තන සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ලබා දිය යුතුද? නියෝගය ජූලි 15 ට කල් යයි…!

කොළඹ දිසා අධිකරණයේ පවරා ඇති ගෙවල් කුලී නඩුවක එම නඩුව පවත්වාගෙන යාමට අධිකරණ බලය නොමැති බවට අධිකරණ සංවිධාන පනතේ 39වන වගන්තිය යටතේ මූලික විරෝධතාවයක් ගෙන ඇත.

එකී මූලික විරෝධතාවය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමසීම ලිඛිත දේශන මගින් සිදුකළ අතර පැමිණිල්ලේ නීතිඥවරයා විසින් ලිඛිත දේශන සමග ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් නඩු තීන්දු සහ ඇතැම් ලිපි කිහිපයක් අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත.

ලිඛිත දේශන සළකා බලා නඩුව පවත්වාගෙන යාමට අධිකරණ බලය නොමැති බවට වූ මූලික විරෝධතාවය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරමින් උත්තරය ගොනු කිරීමට දිසා අධිකරණය නියෝග කර ඇත.

ඒ අනුව විත්තිකරු විසින් හරස් පැමිණිල්ලක් සමග උත්තරය ගොනුකර ඇති අතර, පැමිණිල්ල වෙනුවෙන් ලිඛිත දේශන සමග නඩු වාර්තාවට ගොනුකර ඇති ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති නඩු තීන්දු සහ ලිපි කිහිපයේ පරිවර්තන ‘පූර්ව නඩු විභාගයට’ පෙර සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ලබා දෙන ලෙස ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 24.3 ව්‍යවස්ථාව සහ දිසා අධිකරණ කාර්ය පටිපාටිමය විධිවිධාන යටතේ ඉල්ලා ඇත.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 24.3 ව්‍යවස්ථාව මෙසේය;

අධිකරණයක භාවිත වන භාෂාව නොදන්නා යම්කිසි විනිශ්චයකාරවරයකු ට ජූරි සභිකයකු ට හෝ යම්කිසි පාර්ශ්වයකට හෝ අයදුම්කරුවකුට නැතහොත් ඒ පාර්ශවය හෝ අයදුම්කරු නියෝජනය කිරීමට නීතියෙන් බලය ලබා ඇති යම්කිසි තැනැත්තෙකුට එම අධිකරණයේ සිදුවන කටයුතු වටහා ගැනීමටත් ඒ කටයුතු වලට සහභාගි වීමටත් හැකවන සේ රජය විසින් සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් හෝ දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් සපයනු ලබන භාෂණ පරිවර්තන සහ පරිවර්තන ලබා ගැනීමටත් නඩු වාර්තාවකින් නීතිය අනුව ලබා ලබාගැනීමට හිමිකම ඇති කවර වූ කොටසක් නැතහොත් එහි පරිවර්තනයක් එම භාෂාවෙන් ලබා ගැනීමටත් හිමිකම ඇත්තේ ය .

සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පරිවර්තන ලබා ගැනීමට අදාල නියෝගය අප්‍රේල් 02වෙනි දිනට ලබා දීමට නියමිතව තිබූ අතර කෝවිඩ් -19 තත්ත්වය හේතුවෙන් පැවති ඇදිරි නීතිය හේතුවෙන් අප්‍රේල් 02 කැදවීමට තිබූ නඩු ජූනි 15 කැදවනු ලැබූ අතර එකී නියෝගය නැවත ජූලි 15වන දිනයට නියම කරන ලදී.

කොළඹ අංක 03 දිසා අධිකරණයේදී මෙම නීතිමය කරුණ සළකා බලයි.

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන,

by A. Abdul Aziz.

Human nature in itself provides us with a strong inclination towards a belief in God. There are certain sins which human nature doesn’t like to get involved in. For instance, relationship with mother, sister and daughters etc. These are certain things which even a atheist will not like to do. But if there is no fear of a super being, Why not to lie all the times? why not to steal and commit adultery? What are the reasons that keep them away from these evils? If they do not feel the power of some unseen, then they should do whatever pleases them. Then truth and lie and justice and oppression should be all the same for them. It’s only God’s fear that is ruling on their hearts. Although their mind does not acknowledge the existence of God but the human nature created by God cannot defy it. So even an atheist at heart holds some view about God and judgment day. While in distress, everybody pray to a super-Being for relief. Why so, if they don’t believe in that super-being, whom we call God?

Meera Srinivasan

200 suspects have been arrested; inquiry is now focusing on financial networks connecting suicide bombers; role of foreign groups suspected

Sri Lanka’s probe into the April 2019 Easter terror bombings is in its final stages”, authorities have said, while raising suspicion that the suicide bombers were funded by two foreign outfits”.

The Colombo Crime Division, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), who are investigating the attacks of last summer, have arrested over 200 suspects since.

Also read: Sri Lanka Catholic church forgives Easter bombers

The coordinated bomb blasts at three luxury hotels in Colombo and three churches in Colombo, nearby Negombo, and the eastern city of Batticaloa, were the deadliest attacks in Sri Lanka’s post-war decade, claiming 279 lives.

By Toma Mochizuki Courtesy The Japan Times

ASUKA, NARA PREF. – In a small western Japan village known for little more than its ancient burial mounds, an asparagus-loving Sri Lankan farmer has put her heart and soul into showing she belongs, despite sticking out like a green thumb.

Udara Kametani, 36, has grown a wide variety of vegetables in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, since she started out as the only foreign female farmer in her area about four years ago, but it is asparagus that has become her true passion.

I fell in love with it,” she said with a smile when asked to describe her relationship with the vegetable.

As her operation has grown, she has been able to provide fresh produce to around 50 stores in her area and neighboring prefectures.

The key is not to think of how tiring or grueling it is, but to have fun,” she said.

The village with a population of some 5,500 is known for its many ancient kofun mounded tombs, including the Kitora Tumulus, which features a mural from the seventh century with the world’s oldest constellation chart.

But with little else going on, Asuka has seen its population decline as younger residents move to find opportunities on offer in Japan’s large cities, said Udara’s husband Akio Kametani, 49.

But Udara is committed to expanding her vegetable business in the region where she and her family have put down roots.

Udara’s Japanese journey began through her television in Sri Lanka.

She was exposed to some Japanese shows and dramas and was inspired to dive deeper into the culture. This interest culminated in a decision to move to Tokyo to study tourism at Daito Bunka University from 2006.

She met Akio, a teacher who speaks Sinhala, one of Sri Lanka’s official languages, and they moved to settle in his native Nara Prefecture.

After giving birth to their son, now 9 years old, Akio encouraged Udara to take up a hobby or find a job she would enjoy.

She worked in a range of jobs over a few years without finding something she was passionate about, and when her husband brought up farming as a possible change, she was skeptical about that, too.

I was against it because it looked like hard work,” she explained in fluent Japanese with a sometimes Kansai lilt. But after going to a farming workshop, I realized that I liked it.”

The yearlong workshop was run by the agriculture ministry to encourage people to work in the farm sector to solve the issue of major labor shortages, especially in rural areas, due to Japan’s aging population.

Lectures ran for around four months before students took part in on-the-job training for about eight months.

Four years on, she has built a business growing produce ranging from tatsoi, an Asian leafy green, plus romaine lettuce and broccoli, among others. She is most dedicated to growing asparagus, however.

During the workshop, I went to a lot of different farms to see how to grow various vegetables,” she said, but it was asparagus that sparked her interest and imagination.

When I first saw asparagus, it was a jungle of green. The greenhouse was stiflingly hot, but it was incredibly cool when I crouched down.”

According to Udara, asparagus is fairly self-sufficient even when left alone and can reach nearly 2 meters tall if not trimmed. Although it can be harvested after one year, many farmers wait for three years so they can be rewarded with thicker and longer spears to take to market.

Moreover, asparagus, as a perennial plant, produces for as long as 10 years.

We’ve waited three years to make something great,” Akio said. Udara finally harvested her asparagus and sold them this spring.

While waiting for her perfect asparagus, she grew other produce but her focus remained on making the green spears her main business.

The two greenhouses she set up to grow asparagus are 50 meters long and have to be visited daily from February to October.

From November to January, asparagus cultivators have to lay down fresh fertilizer to get ready for the next season’s harvest.

Although she never lacked motivation, Udara’s journey has not been straightforward. As a mother and entrepreneur, she has to balance the early morning starts of a farmer with raising her child and managing the household.

My son was 5 years old when I went to the farming training, but I needed to attend every day,” she said. During asparagus season, I have to tend to the vegetables from 5:30 in the morning.”

Even though she gets some help from her friendly neighbors, Udara mostly does the heavy lifting herself.

Although exhausting, she focuses on putting her work in a positive light, framing the challenges she faces in a way that she can take joy from the difficult moments.

So many people have helped and supported me,” Udara said. I’m still new to farming, so those with more experience have given me advice.”

I’m constantly learning and happy when people cheer me on,” she added.

Some of that support has come from her homeland, too.

Udara’s Japanese farming exploits have seen her featured in Sri Lankan media, with people at home hailing her for following her dreams against heavy odds.

Now a few years into her farming career, Udara is looking to branch out and to add more variety to what she produces.

I want to start growing summer vegetables you don’t see often in Japan such as winged beans and cassava,” she said.

Not happy just toiling on her farm, Udara also grows vegetables in her backyard for her family to eat and notes that she has a plan to grow various fruits in the near future.

Having lived in Japan for 14 years, she said she only occasionally returns to Sri Lanka, and only when she can drag herself away from her beloved farm.

Her commitment is commendable and shows she has what it takes to make her business a success, but when asked if she feels special to be the only woman from outside Japan working in her farming community, Udara remains modest.

I personally don’t think it’s terribly unusual,” she said with a grin. But it makes me happy to do something different.”

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

පාස්කු ඉරුදින එල්ල වූ ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය මෙහෙය වූ සහරාන් හසීම් සහ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව භාරයේ සිටින නීතීඥ හිජාස් හිස්බුල්ලා පුත්තලම ප්‍රදේශයේ මද්‍රසා පාසල් ළමුන්ට විදුහල්පති ඉදිරියේම අවි පුහුණුව ලබා ඇති බව අනාවරණ වී තිබෙනවා.

ඒල එම සිසුන් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට ලබා දී ඇති ප්‍රකාශවලට අනුවයි.

එම ප්‍රකාශ ඇතුළත් විශේෂ වාර්තාවක් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව පෙරේදා කොටුව මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

ඉකුත් වසරේ පාස්කු ඉරුදින එල්ල වූ මරාගෙන මැරෙන ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වැඩිදුර විමර්ශන වාර්තාවක් පෙරේදා කොළඹ කොටුව මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබුණා.

එහි සඳහන් වූයේ මෙම ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ත්‍රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත යටතේ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව භාරයේ රඳවා තබා ගනිමින් විමර්ශන සිදුකරනු ලබන නීතීඥ හිජාස් ඕමර් හිස්බුල්ලා සම්බන්ධයෙන් තවදුරටත් දීර්ඝ විමර්ශනයක් සිදුකරමින් පවතින බවයි.

මෙතෙක් සිදුකළ විමර්ශනවලට අනුව නීතීඥ හිජාස් ඕමර් නැමැත්තාගේ ජාතික හැඳුනුම්පත් අංකයට අදාළව ජංගම දුරකථන අංක 7ක් සහ ඒවා භාවිත කර තිබූ ජංගම දුරකථන 9ක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු අනාවරණය වී තිබෙනවා.

එම දුරකථන විශ්ලේෂණ වාර්තා ලබා ගනිමින් සැක සහිත දුරකථන සම්බන්ධතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් තවදුරටත් ප්‍රශ්න කරමින් අනාවරණවන කරුණු අනුව දීර්ඝ විමර්ශනයක් පවත්වන බවයි අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව අධිකරණයට දන්වා සිටියේ.

මෙම නීතීඥවරයා විසින් සාමාජිකත්වය හා සභාපතිත්වය දැරූ සේව්ද පර්ල් සොසයිටි නැමති සංවිධානය මගින් පුත්තලම අල් සුහරියා මද්‍රසා විද්‍යාලයට යොමුකර තිබූ ළමුන් 24 දෙනෙකු සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු අනාවරණය වී තිබෙනවා.

ඉන් ළමුන් 10 දෙනෙකු හෙළිකර ඇත්තේ නීතීඥ හිජාස් මද්‍රසා පාසලට පැමිණ අන්‍ය ජාතීන් හා ආගමිකයන් කෙරෙහි වෛරයක් ඇතිවන ආකාරයේ දේශණ පවත්වා පුහුණුවීම් සිදුකර ඇති බවටයි.

පාස්කු ඉරුදින ප්‍රහාරය මෙහෙය වූ මොහොමඩ් කාසිම්, මොහොමඩ් සහරාන්, ඉල්හාම් මොහොමඩ් ඊබ්‍රහිම් සහ මොහොමදු ඊබ්‍රහිම් මොහොමදු නවුෆර් යන අය පාසලට පැමිණ පැය එක හමාරක පමණ කාලයක් වීඩියෝවක් පෙන්වූ බවත් එම වීඩියෝව මගින් ගුවන් හමුදාවෙන් පැමිණ බෝම්බ ගසන ආකාරය සහ මියගිය පුද්ගලයන් වැටී සිටි ආකාරය පෙන්වා සිටි බවද එක් සිසුවෙකු ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශවල සඳහන්වනවා.

තවත් සිසුවෙකු ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශවල සඳහන්ව ඇත්තේ හිස්බුල්ලා නම් නීතිඥවරයා පැමිණ දේශනයක් පවත්වා ප්‍රොෙජක්ටරයක් ආධාරයෙන් ඊශ්‍රායලය හා පලස්තීනයේ යුද්ධයට සම්බන්ධ වීඩියෝවක් පෙන්වූ බවයි.

ඊශ්‍රායලයේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි පිරිස් අල්ලා සිටින්නේ තමන්ගේ පල්ලි බවත්, ලංකාවේ කතෝලික අයට ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කළ හොත් ඒ අය බියවනු ඇති බවත් නීතීඥ හිජාස් හිස්බුල්ලා පැවසූ බව සිසුවෙකු ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශයක සඳහන්වනවා.

අදාළ සිසුවා ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශයේ වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් වන්නේ 2018 දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේදී නසීර් නවුෆර් නැමැත්තෙකු පැමිණ තවත් දේශනයක් පැවැත්වූ බවයි.

එහිදී පරිගණකයෙන් තැනූ රොබෝවරයෙකු මරා දමන ලෙස ඔහු පැවසූ බවට ද සිසුවෙකු ප්‍රකාශ ලබාදී තිබුණා.

මිනිස් රූප දෙකක් ගෙන එක් අයෙකු මැරුණහොත් අනෙක් පුද්ගලයා ඉතිරිවන බව කියා ඊශ්‍රායලයේ ඉගැන්වීම් සිදුකර තිබෙන බවද ළමුන් ප්‍රකාශ ලබාදී තිබෙනවා.

වැඩිදුරටත් එම ප්‍රකාශවල දැක්වෙන්නේ අපේ ආගම කතෝලික අයගෙන් බේරාගත යුතු බවත්, කතෝලික ආගමට විරුද්ධව අපි වැඩ කළ යුතු බවත් අදාළ පුද්ගලයා ප්‍රකාශ කළ බවයි.

එම සිසුවා වැඩිදුරටත් පවසා ඇත්තේ 2019 ජනවාරි මාසයේ දිනක පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය සිදුකල සහරාන් හසීම් සුදු පැහැති KDH වර්ගයේ වෑන් රථයකින් පාසලට පැමිණ දේශණ පැවැත්වූ බවයි.

එහිදී ආගම වෙනුවෙන් පන දිය යුතු බව සහරාන් පැවසූ බවත්, ආගම බේරාගැනීම සඳහා සටන් කිරීමට ධෛර්ය තිබෙන්නේ කාටදැයි විමසා සිටි බවයි.

එහිදී ඇතැම් සිසුන් සටන් කිරීමට කැමැත්ත පළ කළ බවත් ඔවුන් පමණක් රැඳි සිට අනෙක් සිසුන්ට ඉන් ඉවත්වන ලෙස විදුහල්පතිවරයා පැවසූ බව එම සිසුවා ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබෙනවා.

සහරාන් හෂීම්ගේ සොහොයුරෙකුවන මොහොමඩ් රිල්වාන් නැමැත්තා තුවක්කුවක් ගලවා වෙඩි තබන ආකාරය පෙන්වූ බවද සිසුවෙකු ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශයක සඳහන්.

එලෙස පාසල් ළමුන්ට ගිනි අවි නැරඹීමට ලබාදුන් අවස්ථාවේ විදුහලේ විදුහල්පතිවරයාද සිට තිබෙනවා.

එමෙන්ම අරාබි ජාතික පුද්ගලයන් 4 දෙනෙකු පැමිණ ළමුන්ට රුපියල් 3000 බැගින් මුදල් පරිත්‍යාගයක්ද සිදුකර ඇති අතර එම අවස්ථාවේ විදුහල්පතිවරයාටද අරාබි මුදල් මිටියක් ලබාදුන් බව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට සිසුවෙකු ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශයක සදහන්.

මෙම සිසුන් ලබාදුන් ප්‍රකාශ අනුව මරාගෙන මැරෙන බෝම්බකරුවන සහරාන් හෂීම්ට අමතරව ඉල්හාම් මොහොමඩ්, මොහොමඩ් ඊබ්‍රහිම්, මොහොමඩ් ජෙෆ්රි ෆාතිමා, නීතීඥ හිජාස් හිස්බුල්ලා, මොහොමඩ් අසාම් මොහොමඩ් මුබාරක් සහ තවත් පිරිසක් වරින්වර මද්‍රසා පාසල්වලට පැමිණ වැඩමුළු හා දේශන පවත්වා ඇති බවට කරුණු හෙළිව ඇතැයි අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ නිලධාරීන් අධිකරණයට දැනුම් දී තිබෙනවා.

Courtesy Hiru News

The sinister political hand in the obstruction of the archaeological survey at the Pottuvil Muhudu Viharaya was exposed today.

This was with the actions of a candidate contesting the forthcoming general election from the All Ceylon Makkal Congress Party led by former minister Rishad Bathiudeen.

Today, the CIA disclosure is about this sinister attempt to promote the personal political agenda by inciting ordinary people.

Sheain Fernandopulle Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Attorney General Dappula de Livera said today the prisons have become the playgrounds of criminals and pointed out that the prison department lacked honest and efficient officers.

He said this when addressing prison officers at the Welikada Prison and claimed that a majority of the jailers were addicted to taking bribes from criminals.

It is a well known secret that prison inmates are protected by prison officers and prison officers are protected by inmates,” the AG said.

He said there was no discipline among the prison officers and inmates and pointed out that the rehabilitation of inmates had not been properly carried out.

The AG said the public too had lost faith in the prison department.

I know that there are a few honest officers in this department. However, majority of them are corrupt,” he said.

Hence, it is essential to put things right and for that, we need strong leadership and honest and efficient officers.” 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

No matter who administers the country, Islamic extremism cannot be eradicated until the government leaders ban extremism across the country, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary the Ven. Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thera told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the Easter Sunday Attacks.

“Extremism in the country is like a cancer now,” he said.

When the Commissioners asked the monk about the situation in the country at the time of the Easter Sunday attacks, he said at that time the country was without a leader who could take the responsibility of handling the affairs of governance in an efficient manner.

“The Easter attacks resulted in showing up country’s leadership as a failure,” he said.

During the monk’s testimony, PCoI Chairman Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva said the commission had received several complaints against the manner in which the BBS behaved on several occasions.

“I raised this matter up so as to provide a proper perspective to the testimony,” the Chairman said.

With reference to the riots at Aluthgama, the monk said former MP Rajitha Senaratne’s behaviour adversely affected the situation. (Yoshitha Perera)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) submitted a report pertaining to the Easter Attacks of last year to the Fort Magistrate’s Court on Friday (19).

During the investigations, revelations have been made that 24 students had been sent to a Madrasa in Puttalam by suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and his clan.

The report said that under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) the CID is conducting further investigations into Lawyer Hijaz Hizbullah.

According to the investigations that have been carried out so far, 07 phone numbers and 09 mobile phones were registered under Lawyer Hizbullah.

Revelations were also made on 24 children who were sent to the Al Suharia Madrasa in Puttalam through the ‘Save The Pearl Society’ where Lawyer Hizbullah held the title of chairman.

The CID told the Fort Magistrate’s Court that among the 24 students, 10 have identified Lawyer Hizbullah to have conducted lectures at the Madrasa, teaching them to hate other religions and races.

One child has given evidence saying that they were shown a video of an air force bombing and visuals of dead people by Mohamed Kasim Mohamed Zahran, who led the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Ilham Mohamed Ibrahim and Mohamed Ibrahim Naufer.

Another child, testifying on the matter, has said Lawyer Hizbullah had conducted lectures at the Madrasa. The child went on to say that the lawyer had shown them a video of the wat between Israel and Palestine, saying that Israeli Christians had taken the mosques under control and the only way to make them scared is to attack the Christians in Sri Lanka.

The child also revealed that an individual named Hassir Naufer had conducted another lecture in the month of December 2018, stating that in Israel, it is taught that if one person dies another will remain and that they should also follow this teaching.

Courtesy Adaderana

The positive cases of novel coronavirus confirmed in the country hiked to 1,950 on Friday (19) as three more arrivals tested positive for the virus.

The number of active coronavirus cases under medical care meanwhile stands at 467.

Sri Lankan has confirmed 11 deaths due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The number of patients who recovered from the COVID-19 increased to 1,472 today (20) as a total of 26 more virus-positive regained health.

These recoveries are reported from the Infectious Disease Hospital (14), Welikanda Base Hospital (02), Kattankudy Base Hospital (04), Minuwangoda Base Hospital (02), Hambantota District General Hospital (02) and Theldeniya Base Hospital (02).

Chandrasena Pandithage

On your birthday this year, We patriotic wanted to write to you and thank you for everything you have done for our country.

Your work is truly mesmerizing and you are an exemplary leader for future generations who wish to follow the world of politics.

Thank you once again! I’m wishing you a joyous birthday today and a prosperous year to come!

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

පළාත් පාලන ආයතනවල සභිකයින්ගේ නිවාඩු ප්‍රශ්නය විසදා ගැනීමට නොහැකිව, ෆෙස් බුක් කමෙන්ට් එකක් වෙනුවෙන් විනය පරීක්ෂණයක් පැවැත්වීමට යෝජනා කරන මැ.කො., දැන් එයින් ඔබ්බට ගොස් සභා ලේකම්වරුන් හරහා ද කොස් ඇට බාවන්නට උත්සහ දරමින් සිටී.

ජා ඇල නගර සභාවේ සභිකයෙකු සම්බන්ධයෙන් මැ.කො. ජා ඇළ සභා ලේකම් වෙත යවා ඇති ලිපිය මේ  සමග දැක්වේ.  ලංකාවේ කිසිදු නීතියට වලංගු නැති, නීතිමය වටිනාකමක් නැති මැ.කො. මේ ලිපිය ද, සභිකයින්ගේ නිවාඩු අවුල සම්බන්ධයෙන්ම වේ.  විනය පරීක්ෂණ ඉල්ලීමක් මගින් රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ කට වසා දැමීමට මැ.කො. ට අවශ්‍ය වූයේ නීතියට පටහැනි මෙවැනි නියෝග පෙරළා ප්‍රශ්න කිරීම වැලැක්වීමට ය.  පළාත් පාලන කොමසාරිස් කළ නොහැකි දේ, සභා ලේකම්ට කරන්නට කියන මේ ලිපිය විමසමු. 

සභා ලේකම්ට මෙවැනි කිසිදු නෛතික පදනමක් නැති, අනීතික ලිපියක් ලියමින් උපදෙස් දෙන්නට හැකියාවක් තිබේද? නැත!  නීතියට පිටින් දෙන මේ උපදෙස සභා ලේකම්වරු පිළිපැදිය යුතුද?  නැත. 

මැ.කො. අලුත්ම අනීතික ලියවිල්ල පේළියෙන් පේළිය විග්‍රහ කරමු.

1.      මැ.කො. මේ ලිපිය ලියන්නේ සභිකයෙකුගේ නිවාඩු ප්‍රශ්නය ගැන, ජා ඇළ නගර සභාවේ ලේකම් ගේ ලිපියකට පිලිතුරු ලෙසිනි.   මැ.කො. අතිරේක මැ.කො. (නීති විමර්ශන) බී.පී.සී.කුලරත්න දෙවන ඡේදයේ කියන්නේ ‘ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව හා පවත්නා නීතිය අනුව සභා රැස්වීම්වලට සහභාගිවීම හා කාර්යාල සම්පත් පරිපරණයට හා සභා වාර වලට සම්බන්ධ වීම නිල ධූරයේ බලය අයුතු ලෙස භාවිත කිරීමක්‘ බව ය.

ප්‍රශ්නගත කරුණ ගැන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 104 ආ. (4) අනු ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (අ) ඡේදය ආරම්භ වන්නේ –

            මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වනු ලබන කාලපරිච්ඡේදය තුළ දී, රජයට හෝ යම් රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථාවකට හෝ අයත් යම් නිශ්චල හෝ චංචල දේපළක් -” යනුවෙනි.

මැ.කො. විසින් 2020. 06. 06 දින නිකුත් කර ඇති අංක 2178/29 දරන අති විශේෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර ඇති විධානවල පළමුවන ඡේදය මෙසේ කියයි. 

ඒ විධාන, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 104 ආ ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (4) වන අනු ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (අ) ඡේදය යටතේ රජයට හෝ යම් රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථාවකට හෝ අයත් යම් නිශ්චල හෝ චංචල දේපළක් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයක දී යම් දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් හෝ ස්වාධීන කණ්ඩායමක් හෝ යම් අපේක්ෂකයකු තෝරා පත් කර ගැනීම ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමේ හෝ වළක්වාලීමේ කාර්යය සඳහා භාවිත කිරීම තහනම් කිරීමට කොමිෂන් සභාව ඇති බලතල යටතේ නිකුත් කරනු ලබන බව‘ කි.

රජයට හෝ යම් රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථාවකට හෝ අයත් යම් නිශ්චල හෝ චංචල දේපළක් එවැනි භාවිත කිරීමක් වළක්වාලීමට කොමිෂන් සභාවට ඒ අනුව පැහැදිලි බලයක් ඇත. සිදු විය යුත්තේ ද, වසර ගණනක් අප පෙනී සිටියේ ද, ඒ වෙනුවෙන්ම ය.  

එහෙත්, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 104ආ ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (4) වන අනු ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (අ) ඡේදය මගින් පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයක යම් නිශ්චල දේපළක් හෝ චංචල දේපළක් හෝ සම්බන්ධයෙන් විධාන කිරීමට කොමිෂන් සභාවට බලයක් ලබා දී තිබේ ද? නැත. කිසිසේත්ම නැත!!

*    ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 170 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ, දක්වා ඇති අර්ථ නිරූපණය තුළ ‘රජය’ යන්නට අර්ථය නිරූපණය කර නැත. එහෙත් අර්ථ නිරූපණය පිළිබඳ ආඥාපනතේ ‘රජය’ යන්නට අර්ථ නිරූපණයක් දී ඇත. (2 වන වගන්තියේ (ඈඈ) ඡේදය) එය මෙසේ ය.

               ‘ රජය” හෝ ජනරජය” හෝ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනරජය”  යන්නෙන්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය අදහස් වේ;’

*    ඒ ආකාරයෙන් ම 170 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථාව” යන්නට සහ පළාත් පාලන ආයතනය” යන්නට ද අර්ථ නිරූපණය දක්වා ඇත. අර්ථ නිරූපණය පිළිබඳ ආඥාපනතේ (2 වන වගන්තියේ (ප) ඡේදය) පළාත් පාලන ආයතනය යන්නට දී ඇති අර්ථය සමග ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අර්ථ නිරූපණයට සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම සමාන වේ.

*    මේ අනුව 104ආ ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (4) වන අනු ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (අ) ඡේදය මගින් පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයක (එනම් දැන් පළාත් පාලන කොමසාරිස්වරුන් හා අලුතෙන්ම සභා ලේකම්වරුන්ට අනීතික බලපෑම් කරමින් ලියුම් ලියන පරිදි,  යම් නිශ්චල දේපළක් හෝ චංචල දේපළක් හෝ සම්බන්ධයෙන් විධාන කිරීමට මැ.කො. බලයක් නැත.

 එයට හේතුවක් තිබේ.  පොදු දේපළ විෂයයෙහි ලා සිදු කරනු ලබන වැරදි පිළිබඳ පනතේ ද පොදු දේපළ” යන්නට දී ඇති අර්ථ නිරූපණය අනුව පළාත් පාලන ආයතනවල දේපළ ඇතුළත් වී නැත. ඒ පනතේ පොදු දේපළ යන්නට දී ඇති අර්ථය මෙසේ ය:

            “public property ” means the property of the Government, any department, statutory board, public corpora-ration, bank, co-operative society or co-operative-union.

*    එසේම රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථාවකට දී ඇති අර්ථ නිරූපණය, පළාත් පාලන ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදාළ කර ගැනීම ද කළ නොහැකි වනවා සේ ම, පළාත් පාලන ආයතන රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථා ගණයට ඇතුළත් කිරීම ද කළ නොහැකි ය. 

*    පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයකට සභිකයකු වශයෙන් තෝරා පත් කර ගැනීම කරනු ලබන්නේ පළාත් පාලන ආයතන ඡන්ද විමසීම් ආඥාපනතේ විධිවිධාන අනුව වේ. එසේම, එසේ පත් කර ගන්නා සභිකයකු නගරාධිපතිවරයා / සභාපතිවරයා හෝ නියෝජ්‍ය නගරාධිපතිවරයා / උප සභාපතිවරයා යන ධුරයකට පත් කිරීම ඒ ආඥාපනතේ නියම අනුව කරනු ලැබේ.

*    පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයක් විසින් තීරණය කළ යුතු ප්‍රශ්න හා කරුණු ඒ පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයේ සභිකයන් විසින් තීරණය කළ යුතු ය. මේ තීරණ ගැනීම පිළිබඳ මූලික නීතිවල විධිවිධාන අනුව (මහා නගර සභා ආඥාපනතේ 21 වන වගන්තිය, නගර සභා ආඥාපනතේ 26 වන වගන්තිය සහ ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා පනතේ 14 වන වගන්තිය) මේ තීරණ ගැනීම සඳහා සභිකයන් මහා සභා රැස්වීමට පැමිණිය යුතු ය.

සභාව ගත යුතු තීරණ, ගැන බලපෑම් කරන්නට ප.පා.කො. ට හැකියාවක් නැත. සභා ලේකම්ට කොහෙත්මක හැකියාවක් නැත.  මැ.කො. ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ සිටින නීති විශාරදයින් මේ කරුණ හොදින් දනී.  තමන්ට බැදගන්නට බැරි දර මිටිය බැදගන්නට පා.පා.කො. බැරිනම් සභා ලේකම් ‘ගැරඩියන් කර ගන්නට‘ උත්සහ දරයි.  එය බැරි වූ විට, ‘විනය ඉස්සරහට‘ ගනී.

දැන් අපි නිවාඩු ගැන බලමු.

මේ අනුව නගරාධිපති / සභාපති හෝ නියෝජ්‍ය නගරාධිපති / උප සභාපති හෝ යම් සභිකයකු නිවාඩු ලබා ගැනීම පිළිබඳ විධිවිධාන ඇත්තේ වක්‍ර ප්‍රතිපාදනයක් ලෙස ය.  දැන්, මැ.කො. සේනක පල්ලියගුරුගේ ඇතුළු පළාත් පාලන කොමසාරිස්වරුන් 8 දෙනා ද, දැන් ප.පා.ආයතන සභා ලේකම්වරුන් ද ලව්වා කොස් ඇට බාවන්නට හදන්නේ ඇයි ද යන්න පැහැදිලිය.  එය ප්‍රශ්න කළ විට, වෙනදා උඩ පැන බුකිය/මාධ්‍ය දෙවනත් කරන, මහින්ද දේශප්‍රිය, රත්නජීවන් හූල් වැනි ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයේ නිර්මාපකයින් ද, මැ.කො. ශ්‍රීන් බොරලැස්ස, තිලිණ, නාලක ඇතුළු කණ්ඩායම ද කට වසාගෙන නොදැක්කා සේ සිටින්නේ ද ඒ නිසාය.  

අර්බුදය, මැ.කො. පත්ව ඇති අපහසුතාවය සිහි බුද්ධිය ඇති අයෙකුට වටහා ගත හැකිය.  ප්‍රශ්ණය ඇත්තේ, මැ.කො. උත්තර නැති ප්‍රශ්නවලට ප.පා.කො. සහ දැන් අලුතෙන් සභා ලේකම්ලා ‘ලවා කොස් ඇට බාවන්නේ ඇයි ද?‘ යන්නය.  

2.      මෙම ලිපියේ පලාත් පාලන සභිකයන්ගෙන් තෝරාගත් කොටසකට පමණක් මැ.කො. අදාළ කරවන්නට හදන ‘මැතිවරණට නිවාඩු ගැනීම‘ පිළිබඳ මූලික නීතිවල නියමය සලකා බලමු.  නීතියක් නම් එය සැමට එක හා සමානව බල පැවැත්විය යුතුය. නමුත්, සභාපති/උපසභාපති හා තෝරාගත් කිහිප දෙනෙකුට හැර මැ.කො. ඔවුන් පනවන නීතිය සැමට ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නේ නැත.  (උදාහරණයක් ලෙස ජ.වි.පෙ. හි සභිකයින් විශාල පිරිසක් අපේක්ෂකයින් වෙති.  ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂවල සභිකයින් රැසක් ස්වාධීන කණ්ඩායම්වල අපේක්ෂකයින් වෙති. නැගෙනහිර ගාන කීයද කියා නි. මැ.කො. තිලිණිට පැවසිය හැකිය!

සභිකයින්ට අදාළ නිවාඩු නීතිය කුමක්ද? 

සභාවේ අවසරය කලින් නො ලබා, සභාවේ අනුගාමී රැස්වීම් තුනකට පැමිණ සිටීම පැහැර හරින සභිකයකුගේ ධුරය, එනයින් ම අත්හරින්නේ ය. (ම. න. ස. ආඥාපනත 13 (2), න. ස. ආඥාපනත 12 (2) සහ ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා පනත 7) තේරෙන භාෂාවෙන් නම් මන්ත්‍රී ධූරය අහිමි වන්නේය.

      මේ අනුව යම් සභිකයකු තමන් වෙත පැවරී ඇති ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත වගකීම නිසි ආකාරයෙන් ඉටු කිරීම පිණිස මහා සභා රැස්වීමට පැමිණිය යුතු ය. මෙසේ ස්වකීය ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත වගකීම ඉටු කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් මහා සභා රැස්වීමට පැමිණෙන සභිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් මාසික දීමනාවක් ගෙවීමට අමාත්‍යවරයා විසින් ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ ප්‍රකාශ කරන ලද නියෝග මගින් ප්‍රතිපාදන සලසා දී ඇත. මේ නියෝග සෑදීමට අමාත්‍යවරයාට බලය ලැබී ඇත. [ම. න. ස. ආඥාපනත 289, න. ස. ආඥාපනත 193 (2) (උඋ) සහ ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා පනත 19 (1) (xxviii)]

      මේ බලය යටතේ සාදන ලද නියෝග අනුව, (ලංකාවේ වලංගු නීතිය අනුව) යම් සභිකයකු මහා සභාවේ අවසරය ඇති ව නිවාඩු ලබා ගත් අවස්ථාවක දී, අසනීප තත්ත්වයක් මත නිවාඩු ලබා ගැනීමක දී හැර ඔහුට දීමනා ලබා ගැනීමට හිමිකම් නැත. 

*    පළාත් පාලන ආයතනයක සභිකයකුට ඉටු කිරීමට නියම වී ඇති ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත වගකීම, ඔහු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේ අපේක්ෂකයකු වීම මත අහිමි කිරීමට යම් නීතියකින් විධිවිධාන සලස්වන්නේ නම්, ඒ නීතිය වෙනත් නීතියක විධිවිධාන අභිබවා යන තත්ත්වයක් පෙන්නුම් කරයි. එසේම ඒ සභිකයා වෙත පවතින අයිතිය සීමා කිරීමක් ලෙස අර්ථ දැක්විය හැකි ය. ඒ අනුව යම් පළාත් පාලන ආයතන සභිකයකු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වීමේ හේතුව නිසා, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් ඔහුට හිමි වී ඇති මූලික අයිතිය උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක් වේ.

*    පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයට නාම යෝජනා දීමෙන් පසු නිවාඩු ලබා ගැනීම කළ යුතු බවට සහ ඒ කාලය තුළ දීමනා ලබා ගැනීම නොකළ යුතු බවට මැ.කො. නිකුත් කර ඇත. (මේ බලය මැ.කො. ලැබෙන්නේ කෙහෙන්ද? උත්තර නැත! අහන එකාට නොව ශෙයා කරන එකාට විනය පරීක්ෂණ ය.)  ඒ අනුව, එය සිදුකරන සභිකයෙකු, ඒ යම් සභිකයකු මැතිවරණ නීති උල්ලංඝනය කළ අයකු ලෙස සැලකීමට ඉඩ කඩ නිර්මාණය කර තිබේ. එවැනි යම් සභිකයකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත් වුවහොත් ඔහුගේ පත්වීම අවලංගු කිරීමේ අධිකරණ නියෝගයක් වුව ද නිකුත් කිරීමට ඉඩ ප්‍රස්ථාව එමගින් විවර වේ. 

සරළව, මොරටුවේ පොහොට්ටුවේ නගරාධිපති ට, වැලිගම දුරකතනයේ සභාපති ට, මහියංගන අලියාගේ සභාපති ට මැ.කො. මේ අවනීතිය අදාලය. හැබැයි, ඒ හතර වටේ සභාවල තවත් සභිකයෙකුට, ඔය ගැන වගේ වගක් නැතිව  අපේක්ෂකත්වය දැරිය හැකිය.   

මැ.කො. තෝරාගත් පිරිසකට පමණක් මේ නීතිය අදාල කිරීම තුලින් සිදු වන්නේ කුමක් ද?  පලාත් පාලන ආයතන සභිකයින් පිරිසක් මේ උගුලට හසුවන අතර, තවත් පිරිසක් නිවාඩුත් නොලබා,  දීමනා ද ලබා, මැතිවරණයේ අපේක්ෂකයින් ලෙස ද කටයුතු කරති.  හැබැයි, නාම යෝජනා පත්‍රය තමන් අතේ තියාගෙන ඉන්න, පත් කළ සභිකයින් කවුදැයි කියා හොදින්ම දන්න, මැ.කො. ඒ ගැන කටයුතු නොකර මේ ගැන කිසිදු බලයක් නැති ප.පා.කො. හා දැන් සභා ලේකම්වරුන් ‘කොස් ඇට බාන්නට‘ කියයි. (නීතියටම කටයුතු කළ මහියංගන ප්‍රා.ස. සභාපතිට අත්වූ ඉරණම පසුව කථා කරමු)

*    මැ.කො. නිකුත් කළ විධානවලට පළාත් සභා ඇතුළත් කර නැත්තේ දැනට පළාත් සභා අක්‍රිය තත්ත්වයේ පවතින නිසා විය හැකි බව පෙනේ. එසේ වුව ද, අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයේ යම් අමාත්‍යවරයකු හෝ හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයකු යම් පළාත් සභාවක නිශ්චල හෝ චංචල දේපළක් අවභාවිත කළ හොත් ඒ අවභාවිතය මේ විධානවල පාලනයට යටත් නොවේ. (දැනට සිදු වන්නේ නැතත්, උදාහරණයක් ලෙස මාතලේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට තරග වදින, නාම යෝජනා නිවාඩු ගැසට් එක ගැසූ, ස්වදේශ කටයුතු ඇමති ජනක බණ්ඩාර තෙන්නකෝන් හෝ (අලියාට හෝ දුරකතනයට බලය හිමි) මාතලේ මහ නගර සභාවේ සම්පත් සම්බන්ධයෙන් එම තර්කය සමගි ජන බලවේගයේ අපේක්ෂක අලුවිහාරේ සහෝදරයින්ට ද, අදාල සමීකරණයක් ගොඩනැගෙයි.  සැ.යු. මාතලේ එවැන්නක් සිදුව නැත. මෙම මහපොළොවට සමීප සෛද්ධාන්තික උදාහරණයක් පමණී)

  මැ.කො. පලාත් පාලනය හා නිවාඩු කථාවේ ව්‍යවහාරය  අවබෝධ කර ගෙන නැත. නැතහොත් මේ තත්වය හොදින්ම දැනගෙන, ඒ සඳහා වන ඉඩකඩ අවුරා තැබීමෙන් කැමැත්තෙන්ම වැළකී ඇත.

ප.පා. සභිකයින්ගේ නිවාඩු ගැන මැ.කො. තනා ඇති සම තරග බිමේ විස්තරය ඒ ආකාරය. හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරුන්ට පුළුවන්. අගමැතිට පුළුවන්. කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයටම පුළුවන්. හැබැයි  ප.පා. සභිකයන්ට බැරිය!!

පලාත් පාලන ආයතන සභිකයින්ගේ නිවාඩු ගැටළුවේ දී,  මැතිවරණයකට තරග කරන සියළු සභිකයින් නිවාඩු ගත යුතු බව අනිවාර්ය කිරීම, දේශපාලන පක්ෂ හා ස්වාධීන කණ්ඩායම් නායකයින් හරහා සිදු කළ හැකිය.  එසේ නොවේ නම්, කළ හැකි බොහෝ දේ මැ.කො. දන්නේය. එසේ තිබිදී, මේ ප්‍රශ්නය තවදුරටත් ජංජාලයක් කර ගන්නේ ඇයි දැයි, විනය පරීක්ෂණ තියන්නේ ඇයි ද? එක පිට එක ලිපි ලියන්නේ ඇයි ද? පැහැදිලි කිරීම මැ.කො. වගකීමකි. 

මැ.කො. කමෙන්ට් එකකින්, තමන් ප්‍රශ්න කරන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට විනය පරීක්ෂණ තියන්නට පෙර, තවදුරටත් කටුව අස්සේ රිංගාගෙන නොසිට, පහත ප්‍රශ්නවලට පිළිතුරු දිය යුතුය.  

1.      පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයකට හෝ පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණයකට ඉදිරිපත්වන පලාත් පාලන ආයතනයක යම් සභිකයෙකු නිවාඩු ලබා ගත යුතු බව සදහන් පනත හෝ චක්‍රෙල්ණය කුමක් ද?

2.      එසේ ලබා ගත යුත්තේ රාජකාරි නිවාඩු ද? පුද්ගලික නිවාඩු ද?

3.      එම නිවාඩු, වැටුප් සහිත නිවාඩු ද? වැටුප් රහිත නිවාඩු ද?

ගැසට් ගසා ජනාධිපතිවරයා දණ ගස්සවන්නට තරම් ශක්තියක් තිබුණ, කොවිඩ් 19 න් රට බේරා ගත් මැ.කො.,  ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයේ මුරදේවතාවුන් යැයි තමන් සිංහලෙන්-දෙමළෙන් රාජ්‍ය භාෂා දෙකෙන්ම අභිසෙස් ගන්වා සිටින මැ.කො. ට මේ ටික අපේක්ෂකයින්ට ලියා යවන්නට බැරි ඇයි?

හිතවත් මහින්ද දේශප්‍රිය, රත්නජීවන් හූල්, අබේසේකර මහත්වරුණි, කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් හා නියෝජ්‍ය, ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ හා සහකාර කොමසාරිස්වරුනි,  දැන්වත් මේ විකාර ලිපි ලිවීම නවතා, විනය පරීක්ෂණ නාඩගම නවතා මහපොළවට පැමිණෙන්න. 

දේශපාලන ලෝකයේ හිට්ලර් වැනි ඒකාධිපතියන් යැයි කියන්නේ දේශපාලනඥයින්ට පමණක් නොවේ. අනීතික වැඩ කර, තම නිරුවත වසා ගන්නට ‘ආයතන සංග්‍රහය‘ උස්සාගෙන එන රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ට ද එය අදාළ ය.  කලක් වීරයින් ලෙස සැලකුණ මිනිසුන් වසර පහක දී, කුණු කුඩයට වැටෙනු අප දැක ඇත.  දේශපාලනඥයින් පමණක් නොව එය කොමසාරිස්වරුන්ට, නිලධාරීන්ට ද, සිදු විය හැකිය. මා මිත්‍ර 2015 වසරේ මිනිසා, මහින්ද දේශප්‍රියට එය සිදු නොවේවා යන්න මාගේ ප්‍රාර්ථනය යි!

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

Courtesy Gulf Times

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is planning to launch a long-awaited multi-million-dollar global tourism promotion campaign in January 2021 if tourism does not bounce back to the pre-Covid level in two years, local media reported.
Currently, the final terms of references (TOR) of the five-year campaign are being reviewed by an appointed Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC), which is likely to be completed this month, the Mirror Business quoted the SLTPB as saying.
Our aim is to finish the procurement process by December and to kick off the campaign by January,” a top SLTPB official told the newspaper.
Initially, the SLTPB plans to float 11 tenders, including three local tenders, to select a creative agency, a social media agency and a campaign-monitoring unit for the five years, Xinhua news agency reported.
Eight international tenders would be invited to select agencies for destination 
representation.
Despite the Covid-19-induced crisis, Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities are maintaining their midterm target to achieve revenue of $10bn from tourism by 2025.

BY Gagani Weerakoon Courtesy Ceylon Today

The President does not seize illicit liquor, he doesn’t catch rapists, drug peddlers or terrorists. The President is entrusted with policy planning, giving directives and advising, was what former President Maithripala Sirisena insisted when the journalist who interviewed him last week for the BBC Sinhala service repeatedly asked whether he (Sirisena) feels, even slightly, responsible for the unfortunate Easter Sunday attacks in 2019 that occurred as a result of a major security lapse.

Sirisena was the President, Head of State, Minister of Defence, Minister-in-Charge of Police and also Commander-in-Chief, when the Easter Sunday attacks were carried out last year. Today, completes one year and two months after the attacks. 

A brief translation of the conversation between former President Sirisena and the BBC journalist goes as; 

BBC: Would you or former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe accept responsibility? 

MS: Responsibility for what? 

BBC: Responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks… 

MS: Why would I accept responsibility? Responsibility should be accepted by those who were responsible. 

BBC: Were you aware of an imminent attack? 

MS: If I were aware, would I have let it happen? What kind of question is that?

BBC: You were the President, Minister of Defence, Minister-in-Charge of the Police at the time… 

MS: The President does not seize illicit liquor, nor does he catch rapists, drug peddlers or terrorists. The President is entrusted with policy planning, directing and advising. 

 BBC: There are reports that such directives were not issued… 

MS: These duties were properly implemented by the President. It was those below the chain of command who have neglected their duties. 

BBC: Neither you, nor former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have accepted responsibility for this attack. You have also not apologised to the public. In other countries, such an event would have witnessed apologies and the resignation of subject ministers. Would you like to make this an opportunity to apologise to the public? 

MS: For me to apologise, I should have known about it. You keep on stressing this fact… I am amazed by your repeated questions. If the security officials of both the President and the Prime Minister were unaware of those, how would the President or the Prime Minister know?

Forced to shelve

President Sirisena who is contesting the forthcoming General Election from Polonnaruwa electorate was making headlines since Monday (15), as he was caught in an embarrassing situation.

The former President, who arrived in the Polonnaruwa District Monday morning to take part in an event organised to hand over education scholarships and gifts to some 260 students from the District, who had qualified to seek University entrance, was forced to shelve it following the intervention of officers from the Election Commission (EC).

Sirisena said that he had always adhered to Election Laws during his long political career, but expressed his regret at not being able to fete the students who had qualified to enter University, after they had arrived from far-flung villages in the District.

However, Sirisena vowed that one day he will invite the students to commend their achievement in qualifying for University education at an appropriate event to be held under his aegis at the end of the Parliamentary Poll.

Free and fair election

Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) Mahinda Deshapriya said the use of aircraft, helicopters or similar vehicles for propaganda activities of candidates targeting the 5 August General Election as well as the use of State finances for such activities, has been prohibited by the EC.

He said an Extraordinary Gazette Notification published in this connection by the EC has stipulated that all Ministry Secretaries and Heads of State institutions have given a declaration regarding the non-use of the aforesaid items for the upcoming Poll.

He said that no Cabinet Minister or member of his or her staff would be allowed to use vehicles of the State or State institutions sans the registered vehicle number issued by the Motor Traffic Department in the run-up to the Election.

Deshapriya added that two vehicles have been assigned for the use of officers attached to the President’s Security Division. 

He added that all Ministry Secretaries and Heads of State Departments must ensure that their vehicles are not being used under bogus licence plates.

It is in this backdrop, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assured to create the background to hold a free and fair Election, while giving priority to the health protection of the public.

The Ministry of Health has issued recommendations to hold the General Election on 5 August amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be recorded as the first Election to be held under such circumstances in the country. As such, the Government will extend its fullest cooperation to the Election Commission (EC) to make the Election process a success while adhering to health guidelines,” the President had said.

He said this during a meeting he had with the Chairman and Members of the EC at the Presidential Secretariat on 17 June.

The Government took all possible measures to control the spread of COVID-19 and this operation was not aimed at the Election but to secure the wellbeing of the people, said the President, adding that the prevention mechanism will continue for several months more.

The Election can be held without any obstacle if the public is made aware of the situation,” he has opined.

Initial preparations have been completed and the contribution of all political parties and officials and members of the security forces will be essential for the process, Chairman of the EC said.

Deshapriya pointed out the importance of establishing a legal basis to ensure the compulsory participation of public officials in Election duties. He was of the view that these regulations should be incorporated into the Establishments Code. When all partners act in a responsible manner during Election rallies and house-to-house campaigns, an effective Election can be held, he had pointed out. He highlighted the importance of the necessity of declaring future COVID-19 prevention recommendations through a Gazette Notification.

The President agreed to provide the required assistance in the event of the lack of space related facilities, while holding the Election adhering to health instructions.

Deshapriya pointed out the need for providing transportation facilities to those who will leave for their hometowns from 31 July and return after the Election.

Under the radar

Signs of Presidetn Rajapaksa getting frustrated with public officials were evident time to time over the past few weeks and he evidently lost his cool finally last week as he reprimanded the topmost officials of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 

On Monday (15) he informed heads of State Banks that the State Banks must directly intervene to revitalise the stalled economy of the country and had warned that if anyone attempts to scupper the policies of the Government in this connection, he will not think twice before taking stringent action against such officers.

The President had stressed that he had, under no circumstance, advised anyone to grant loans to only his relatives, friends or those who had supported him in whatever capacity.

The President had made these remarks during a review meeting convened to look into activities of the BOC, held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday.

Rajapaksa had pointed out that by levying a double-digit interest for loans, the aspirations of a Nation cannot be fulfilled and averred that it should be brought to a single-digit before supporting the development initiatives of the Government.

He had then opined that the State Banks should take the lead in providing financial relief to farmers, small and medium-scale industrialists and investors.

The President had further emphasised that he will not renege on the promises that he had given to the masses during last year’s Presidential Poll campaign and warned that anyone who attempts to scuttle it will be dealt with.

And, then came the bombshell. 

In a scathing attack on the hierarchy of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reprimanded them of miserably failing in carrying out their duties in reviving the economy and regulating finance institutes despite earning handsome salaries.

The Government had put forward its proposals for economic revival. The Central Bank has not extended its support towards it thus far,” the President noted while asking them to give reasons for their failure.

He made these observations at a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat where Governor of the Central Bank Prof. W.D. Lakshman and officials of the Central Bank, Secretary to the Treasury S.R. Attygalle, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera and Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga were present.

Central Banks in leading countries such as the United States, Japan and Australia as well as in small countries have put in place required mechanisms to revive economies in their respective countries, he pointed out. 

What is the tool we have used? We have used nothing. Our Central Bank has not done anything towards this. Monetary and Fiscal Policy has been formulated by the Central Bank. That should be done in accordance with the economic policy of the President of the country. 

You have several tools that can be used. Those tools have to be utilised. However, our Central Bank does not use a single tool. It just remains idle. We asked to release Rs 150 billion to Banks. This is not a fault of the business. The Government owes a huge sum of money to companies due to mismanagement in the past. Let this money be kept as a security for Banks to release loans to them. Then they can run the economy. This is a money circulation process. This is a very simple tactic and this is a basic economic principle. But, what are you doing? Governments have to take the blame for your conduct. You do not monitor. Look at the status of finance companies.

It is your responsibility to regularise and monitor these companies. However, you have failed in your task. Leasing companies too evade their responsibilities. The ETI is not in a position to repay the people. The Finance has closed down without informing. How are we going to pay for that? There is no management there. All at the Central Bank are economic specialists drawing very high salaries. You have a responsibility. I have presented you a mechanism. If you are unable to follow it, present me your version of the mechanism by tomorrow morning. 

Look at what governments of other countries have implemented to save their small scale and medium scale businesses. Do we see the same efforts over here? It looks as if you are here to hinder the government effort and are trying to impede my duties. I do not have to assume this tone if you stood by your duties. It has been eight months since my appointment to office, and I have been requesting you to revive this collapsed economy ever since.

I do not want to talk about mistakes of the previous government. As all of you know, you were there when the Central Bank Bonds scam was executed. If you supported them to commit this crime, there is no reason for all of you to not to join hands with me to deliver justice. The public must be made aware of the issue of how we move forward with these types of officials. The people of this country have bestowed a great power on me to build this country. I request all of you to allow me to build this country. 

COVID-19 has spread throughout the world. Now it has become a global economic crisis. Due to the firm commitment of our works in the health sector, Army, Intelligence and the Police we were able to return to normalcy before many other countries in the world. The restructuring of the country’s economy before it further collapses lies in your hands. Lend your support to me to achieve success in this endeavour. Either accept my suggestions in this regard or reveal your strategies. 

In this context, a place like the Central Bank where the top economic experts are rendering their service, isn’t it your responsibility to present a proposal to conquer this situation. What have you submitted in this regard. What is the guidance you have given me? There is nothing and you have not come forward to support me.

If you are not on the same page with my suggestions please give me your strategies to revive our economy by tomorrow morning. Give me your suggestions on how to strengthen the economy, how to assist Banks under these dire circumstances, how to categorically assist small scale and medium scale businesses. If what I say is wrong, do not hesitate to let me know,” the President insisted.

Waking up from slumber

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), which appeared to be in a deep slumber for several months, has finally woken up and has come up with a number of measures to provide relief to the public who have been plunged into dire financial straits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but only after being severely chastised by the President. 

In a decision made late Tuesday night, following a meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, attended by CBSL Governor and officials at the Presidential Secretariat, the Monetary Board of the CBSL decided to make available a total of Rs 265 billion, to the businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Monetary Board announced the decision to introduce new credit schemes under Section 83 of the Monetary Law, Act No. 58 of 1949, thereby providing funding to commercial Banks at the concessionary rate of 1 per cent against the pledge of a broad spectrum of collateral, on the condition that the banks should pass on these benefits through increased low-cost lending to domestic businesses.

This scheme, including the existing refinance scheme of Rs 50 billion, is expected to inject a total of Rs 150 billion additional liquidity to the commercial banks, which will in turn on-lend to domestic businesses at 4 per cent.

The Board also announced the decision to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of licensed commercial banks, which will result in injecting around Rs 115 billion of additional liquidity to the domestic money market, enabling the financial system to expedite credit flows to the economy.

In addition, construction sector enterprises will be provided with a facility to borrow from commercial banks, using guarantees issued by the Government equivalent to the amount due on account of contracts carried out in the past, under a new dedicated credit scheme funded by the CBSL and made available at the aforementioned concessionary rates.

The Monetary Board announced that operating instructions on these new credit schemes will be issued in due course.

The Board asserted that the financial sector is expected to pass the benefit of the high level of liquidity and the reduced cost of funds to the economy without delay, by increasing lending to businesses and households at low cost. The Monetary Board will continue to monitor economic and financial market developments and will take further policy and regulatory measures to support a sustained revival of economic activity in the period ahead.

The question however is why did CBSL officers have to wait until being lambasted by the President, in order to provide relief to the public who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The fact that the Monetary Board was able to come up with these relief measures within a matter of few hours was equally surprising. The question that arises from this scenario is whether it was sheer lethargy that prevented the CBSL from coming up with these measures or whether something else had influenced them to fail so spectacularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic? 

Few more to be summoned 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to summon a few more officials from State departments and corporations, who are not ready to toe the line of the Government, a senior official at the Presidential Secretariat said. 

He added the President would seek their views as to why they oppose the advice and instructions given to them by the present administration and conduct their activities in such a manner.

The representative from the Secretariat said that already a spate of complaints had been received by the President’s Secretary regarding a growing number of State institutions that are guilty of dereliction of their duty by the people.

He noted that President Rajapaksa’s attention has been drawn to such institutions who shirk their service by the public, either intentionally or unintentionally.

The officer from the Secretariat added already that they were conducting a programme to identify all State institutions that have failed to efficiently perform their duty by the people on the advice of the President.

He said the President would shortly summon heads of such institutions to seek their views in this regard and affirmed that those who shirk their service would be taken to task by the President.

17 summoned

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing acts of political victimisation on Monday issued summons to 17 persons including four politicians to appear before it based on the complaint lodged with it by the Chairman of Avant-Garde Security Services Private Limited, Nissanka Senadhipathi.

Senadhipathi, in his complaint, had alleged that certain persons in the previous United National Front-led regime had allegedly attempted to forcibly take over his firm and the Rakna Lanka Security Firm, who were both engaged in deep sea protection services.

President of the PCol, Judge Upali Abeyratne issued the summons to 17 persons after having perused the evidence given before the Commission by Senadhipathi.

Hence, the summons were issued to former Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and Arjuna Ranatunga, former Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, former Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, President’s Counsel (PC) Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, former Navy Commander Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police S.A.D. Gunawardena, former Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Senior Police Inspector Shani Abeysekara, Rear Admirals J.J. Ranasingha and Nilantha Heenatigala, former Officer-in-Charge of the Galle Harbour Police Inspector Induka, CID Police Inspector Aluthge Senarath, Assistant Superintendent of Police Lasantha Ratnayaka, Additional Solicitor General Wasantha Navaratna Bandara, State Counsel Janaka Bandara, Upul Jayasuriya PC and Lieutenant Commander W.H.P. Weerasingha respectively.

Abeyratne also ordered the Police Inspection Unit which is attached to the PCoI to record statements from each of the 17 persons before launching a probe into the statements.

Sallay vs Sooka

A known LTTE sympathiser, Yasmin Sooka, has been sent a Letter of Demand to the tune of Rs 1 billion, by Director of the State Intelligence Service, Major Genaral Suresh Tuan Sallay.

The letter sent through Maj Gen Sallay’s Attorney Pasan Weerasinghe, states that on or about 1 June 2020, Sooka, in her capacity as the Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has issued a press statement, making various defamatory remarks against Maj Gen Sallay. The press statement is said to be published via the ITJP’s Sri Lanka website.

The letter of demand notes that the defamatory implications have resulted in parties with vested interests making attempts on the life of Maj Gen Sallay. 

Further, it states that the defamatory remarks of Sooka published by the ITJP Sri Lanka website have caused unto the Maj General’s character and reputation a significant damage, which the Major General has valued at Rs 1 billion and in turn, demanded that Sooka and the ITJP pay the stated amount.

The letter of demand has also notified Sooka and the ITJP to cease and desist from issuing further defamatory remarks and of the intention of Major General Sallay to seek litigative remedies, both civil and/or criminal, if Sooka and the ITJP fail to adhere to the said demands. 

Sooka is very well known for her bias towards the LTTE. 

She first became involved with Sri Lanka when the former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed her as one of the three panel members to advise him on the last three months of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The panel was headed by Indonesian politician Marzuki Darusman.

The heavily biased final report that was leaked in 2011, co-authored by Sooka, came out with damning allegations against the Sri Lanka military. 

Sooka was also a guest speaker at the 2013 conference of the Global Tamil Forum, another known LTTE front, in the UK where she was introduced as ‘comrade’.

Ceylon Today

Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Opposition political parties today expressed their views on the match-fixing allegation made by former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage with regard to the 2011 Cricket World Cup final with some of them calling for investigations.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Hirunika Premachnadra told a news conference that those who were in the Sri Lankan cricket team should reveal the truth to the people. We condemn this statement made by Mr. Aluthgamage. He as insulted and tarnished the image of the cricketers through this allegations. People in this country should stand up for our cricketers who had brought fame to the nation unlike the politicians,” she said. It could be part of the SLPP election campaign and makes one wonder whether he directed this allegation against the Prime Minister.”

UNP Gampaha District Candidate Kithsiri Manchananayake said Sri Lanka should seek ICC assistance to carry out an investigation on these allegation.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake also called for an investigation into this allegation. Mr. Aluthgamage made a serious allegation and we urge President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to conduct an investigation,” he said. 

Piyumi Fonseka Courtesy The Daily Mirror

I wrote to the ICC in 2012 regarding this matter, yet they failed to respond”

Some Cricket officials have purchased car companies, started new businesses after match loss”

The Team changed in the last moment without prior consultation”

An Indian newspaper knew about the team change before us, but how?”

This match made me initiate anti-fixing bill”

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said he had already complained to the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the alleged match fixing incident in 2011 and demanded an investigation to be carried out to find out ‘how certain cricket officials’ allegedly purchased car companies and started new businesses within a year of losing the the match.

He reiterated that he did not refer to any players, but officials in the cricket industry.

Enumerating his allegation over the 2011 Cricket World Cup fixing, Aluthgamage said he had written to the ICC in 2012 regarding the alleged fixing of matches and three other important issues, he had noticed in Sri Lankan Cricket during his tenure.

He said this was the third time him was speaking on this particular matter and there was nothing new or different to what he had said earlier.

He claimed that until the cricket match was played with New Zealand, the Sri Lankan team was playing well and that the final with India was a match the Sri Lankan team were to tipped to win.

The team who played the final match was not the team we had selected, finalized and sent off. At the last moment, without the consultation of either me as the then minister of Sports or officials of the Sri Lanka Cricket Control Board, four new players had been included to the team. We saw this only when we watched the match. How could four players get replaced without due approvals and consultations? The new players were inexperienced compared to the rest of the team. Why did they do that out of the blue?” Aluthgamage questioned.

Despite the Sri Lankan officials being unaware of the change of the team members, an Indian newspaper had carried an article regarding the change of the team a day before the final match, he alleged. Then, he raised another question as to how Indian media knew about something so important that the Sri Lankan Sports Minister and Cricket Control Board had no idea of.

He claimed that he is still in possession of the said letter, but cannot publish it. However, he said the ICC had not responded to his letter.

Aluthgamage said it was the 2011 Cricket WC Final match which made him initiate the bill “Prevention of Offences Related to Sports” which made Sri Lanka the first South Asian nation to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing.

Mahela has said that the circus has started. I don’t understand why Sanga and Mahela are making a big deal about this. I am not referring to any of our players. Everyone is talking about just two minutes of a half an hour interview I gave to a TV channel. Even Arjuna Ranatunga has openly talked about match fixing issues earlier,” Aluthgamage further said. 

Yoshitha Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

No matter who administers the country, Islamic extremism cannot be eradicated until the government leaders ban extremism across the country, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary the Ven. Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thera told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the Easter Sunday Attacks.

“Extremism in the country is like a cancer now,” he said.

When the Commissioners asked the monk about the situation in the country at the time of the Easter Sunday attacks, he said at that time the country was without a leader who could take the responsibility of handling the affairs of governance in an efficient manner.

“The Easter attacks resulted in showing up country’s leadership as a failure,” he said.

During the monk’s testimony, PCoI Chairman Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva said the commission had received several complaints against the manner in which the BBS behaved on several occasions.

“I raised this matter up so as to provide a proper perspective to the testimony,” the Chairman said.

With reference to the riots at Aluthgama, the monk said former MP Rajitha Senaratne’s behaviour adversely affected the situation. 

Courtesy Adaderana

Investigations into the coordinated terror attacks on Easter Sunday have revealed that the brother of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, Bathiudeen Mohamed Riyaj, has had maintained direct links with the bombers, says the Police Spokesperson.

SSP Jaliya Senaratne stated this during ‘BIG FOCUS’ programme on TV Derana this morning (19), responding to a question on the progress of the probes regarding the former minister’s brother.

Bathiudeen Mohamed Riyaj is currently under the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The Police Spokesperson said the former minister’s brother had aided and abetted to transport the bombers.

Probes have further revealed that Mohamed Riyaj also rendered financial assistance to the bombers to orchestrate the attacks, SSP Senaratne added.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Secretary to the Ministry of Sports has called for an immediate probe into the allegations made by Mahindananda Aluthgamage on ‘match-fixing’ at the 2011 World Cup final.

Mahindananda recently made a controversial statement, claiming that he does not accept Sri Lanka’s defeat in the 2011 World Cup (final) as a defeat. According to the information I have received I believe that it was match-fixing,” he had said further, speaking on his startling revelation.

On April 2, 2011, India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the ICC World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. During a televised interview recently, Aluthgamage claimed that the final was fixed. However, he said he was ready to take full responsibility for his comments.

Aluthgamage had stated that the Selection Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had picked the squad for the World Cup final against India and that the team was changed in the last moment”.

Four players were changed,” he said. In addition to that two players were brought down from Sri Lanka and that neither the cricket board’s nor the Sports Ministry’s approval had been obtained for it. That is completely wrong.”

Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardena tweeted a response to news reports on the revelation. He asked for the names and pieces of evidence, involved in the matter. 

Jayawardena took to Twitter and wrote, Is the elections around the corner Looks like the circus has started names and evidence? #SLpolitics #ICC.”

Kumar Sangakkara, who was the Sri Lankan skipper in that game, has also opened up on the issue. He said that the former minister needs to take the evidence to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Sangakkara replied to fellow cricket legend Mahela and wrote, He needs to take his evidence” to the ICC and the Anti corruption and Security Unit so the claims can be investigated thoroughly.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Attorney General, today (19), told the court that issuance of arrest warrants by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and several other bond scam suspects has followed a lawful procedure.

The writ applications filed by Ravi Karunanayake, PTL owner Arjuna Aloysius, Central Bank employees Sangarapillai Pathumanapan and Indika Saman Kumara, seeking a court order to revoke the arrest warrants issued against them, were taken up for consideration today (19).

A three-judge bench consisting of Appeals Court President Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Shiran Gunaratne and Sobhitha Karunaratne sat for the petition hearing.

The writ applications have been fixed for support on June 26.

The petitioners had alleged that the Colombo Fort Magistrate issuing arrest warrants on them based on the B report submitted to the bench by the police is against the law and had sought the Appeals Court for a revocation of warrants.

On 06 March, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court issued warrants for the arrest of Karunanayake and 9 others over the Central Bank bond auctions of March 2016.

The Attorney General subsequently directed the Acting IGP to obtain arrest warrants against several suspects in the Central Bank bond scam case including the former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, former Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran, Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) owner Arjun Aloysius, CEO Kasun Palisena, former Director of the Public Debt Department of the Central Bank T.H.B. Sarathchandra and several others on charges of conspiracy, criminal misappropriation, cheating, and market manipulation in respect of the bond auctions of March 2016.

The Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake accordingly issued arrest warrants on ten suspects in the case, except on the tenth suspect, Buddhika Sarathchandra.

Courtesy Adaderana

Two more persons have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus today (19), the Ministry of Health said.

On that account, the total count of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 1,950.

A total of three patients were discovered within the day, according to the Department of Government Information. Two of them are returnees from Kuwait at the Trincomalee and Minneriya quarantine centres. The other one is a passenger from Mumbai, India travelling to Qatar.

In the meantime, the number of recoveries in Sri Lanka moved up to 1,446 as 25 patients returned to health earlier today.

The Epidemiology Unit’s tally says that 493 active cases are currently under medical care.

Sri Lanka has confirmed 11 deaths due to the COVID-19.

Courtesy Hiru News

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the contractors involved in the project to expedite the construction of the North-Central Expressway.

The Prime Minister expressed these views while participating in an inspection tour of the second phase of the project on complaints that the construction of the North Central Expressway is not being properly conducted.

The Prime Minister also inspected the ICC’s main operational center, which is leading the construction in the Riloluwa section of the expressway from Mirigama.

The Director in charge of the project has explained to the Prime Minister the current situation of the expressway in detail. He pointed out that the construction of the second stage of the expressway, which began with four lanes and six interchange points, has been awarded as a 30-month contract.

The project director has told the Prime Minister that the project has been delayed due to the lack of proper land acquisition when handing over contracts and that contracts have been awarded to local construction companies in four packages, and the progress of some of the construction companies was not satisfactory

The second phase of the construction of the expressway from Mirigama to Kurunegala is part of the second stage of construction and the contract has been handed over to two local construction companies.

The project director has also stated that the construction of the central highway has not been completed as per the agreement.

He pointed out that some construction companies have not completed work to match the advance payments provided and have extended the construction period with various excuses.

The Prime Minister has instructed the Director of the Contracting Company to expedite the construction work of the Riloluwa to Rangallepola section, where 69% of the construction has been completed.

The director in charge of the project pointed out to the Prime Minister that although some construction companies are nearing the end of the project, due to the slowing down of some companies, it will take another year and a half to open the second section of the Central Expressway.

He also explained to the Prime Minister that construction of the expressway, which commenced on January 30, 2017 on a 30-month contract, should have been completed by July 2019 if the construction work had been completed according to schedule.

The Prime Minister expressed these views while speaking to the media after the inspection tour.

The work of some companies is weak while some companies have made good progress. Some companies have stopped construction since the previous government has not provided the money. Once we have paid for their projects, they will start work again. We will take prompt action in this regard. I laid the foundation stone for all these projects. Work on this project was started by the previous government. If my government was in power then the construction work on the expressway would have been completed and the highway would have been handed over. We will finish the work as soon as possible and make it available to the public”

Courtesy Hiru News

The total number of Coronavirus patients that have fully recovered from their infection in the country has increased to 1446 with 25 more people who have recovered being discharged from hospitals today.

Also, an infected person who arrived from India has been reported today. According to the Epidemiology Unit the total number of coronavirus infected persons reported in the country is currently 1948.

The Foreign Employment Bureau today said that nearly 2,000 Sri Lankans who are overseas have been infected with the coronavirus and 21 of them have died due to the virus.

71 Naval Personnel who were quarantined at the SLAF Quarantine Centre located in Iranamadu were released this morning.

This Quarantine Centre operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force was established on the instructions of the Commander of the Air Force, order to support the government’s efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka

The Naval Personnel who were released were also instructed to self-quarantine themselves for a further 14 day period before returning to duty.

The Government has decided to reopen all cinemas island wide from the 27th of this month .

The island’s cinemas, which were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will reopen after 105 days.

The Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe yesterday issued a Health Guidance to reopen film halls.

When inquired the Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs Bandula Harischandra stated that approval will be granted under the Health Guidelines.

Courtesy Hiru News

Minister Wimal Weerawansa says that the government will never come to an agreement with the USA to sign the MCC agreement

He said this while he was speaking at the Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharaya today.

Minister Wimal Weerawansa commenced his election campaign by visiting the Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharaya today and received blessings from the Maha Sangha.

Minister Weerawansa expressed his views to the media after giving a pledge for 19 areas.

Sri Lanka’s top intelligence head has issued a letter of demand to Yasmin Sooka and her entity ITJP alleging violation of ICCPR ACT. He also alleges she & ITJP are accessory to LTTE front agenda with likelihood of posing a risk to his life & that of his family. Complaints regarding Sooka & ITJP have been issued through lawyers to UN & the EU missions in Colombo as well.  We await their acknowledgment & response. The events, also raises caution to all foreign governments in particular those in UK-US-EU-Canada-India which continue to ban LTTE while LTTE fronts are allowed to operate from their shores. Foreign Govts must look into & be alert to their MPs frequently visiting LTTE front events in view of LTTE international network continuing to thrive and remunerating foreign personalities to their fold through various political campaign funding etc. We believe materially supporting terrorist organizations is banned by these countries therefore no foreign MP is expected to accept terrorist funding in any format either.

An interesting development is taking place. We await the action Sooka’s EU employer will take while we also await what UN has to say about the complaint made against ITJP and Sooka who sits on many UN panels/tribunals.

Who really funds ITJP – from its lists of reports churned against the Sri Lankan Government & Military, it takes no idiot to realize that those she claims as civilians are really LTTE combatants. Who is funding ITJP to present LTTE terrorists as civilians and falsely claim Sri Lanka’s military killed civilians? Funding lies with intent to tarnish the image of the country & its armed forces is not done.

All this poses a national security threat.

No Government would allow its military to be smeared and put into danger in this manner. Sri Lanka has a history of such scenarios where confidential details of military has been compromised leading to LTTE assassinating many intel officers.

Sooka’s ITJP is a National Security threat: Sri Lanka must question EU & take Legal Action

In 2015, the US state department declared The LTTE’s international network and financial support are still intact despite its military defeat at the hands of Sri Lankan government troops in 2009”  

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/ltte-network-intact-says-us-terror-report/articleshow/47744709.cms

The year earlier in 2014 LTTE fronts were lobbying British politicians  

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/08/03/terrorist-front-lobbies-british-politicians/

The same year LTTE fronts were reaching out to separatist movements in Scotland 

https://www.mfa.gov.lk/ltte-reaches-out-to-scottish-separatists/

That same year in April 2014 the GoSL proscribed 15 LTTE fronts operating overseas 

http://www.eyesrilanka.com/2014/03/31/sri-lanka-proscribes-15-suspected-ltte-front-organizations-abroad-as-foreign-terrorist-entities-under-un-resolution-1373/

However, in September 2015– 8 of these 15 LTTE fronts were de-listed for a flimsy reason

2016

Germany – In February Yogendran G was convicted of raising 81,000 Euros for LTTE

Malaysia – In September Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia was assaulted inside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport by protestors linked to LTTE

US – In December Tamils for Obama, urged out-going President Obama to delist LTTE from US Terrorist Organization List. It would be interesting to know how much they funded Obama campaign to make this request.

2018

Australia has taken a tough stand on LTTE asylum seekers by deporting them.

2019

LTTE has carried its violent streak overseas where factions are fighting even in the open. A Tamil slashed the arm of another Tamil in a café in southern Paris in September 2019. There are some 10 underworld gangs operating in France.

Little Jaffnas” have been created in France, Canada, UK and virtually every foreign capital/major town LTTE diaspora are congregating.

https://caravanmagazine.in/crime/unending-violence-paris-tamil-gangs?fbclid=IwAR2xywWAHggv8wy4jzj-JlnK0nYZyc5ViYZH5cfmMR40pj7Ho-LyDDhDpG8

It is to the advantage of all foreign governments that must look after its own citizens before looking into the welfare of people in other countries.

Foreign governments must first investigate the LTTE fronts operating in their countries. The original list of banned LTTE fronts declared by GoSL in April 2014 is a good foundation for foreign governments & their think tanks to work on.

Human smuggling and illegal immigrants is a topic that is a major issue for citizens in UK-EU-Canada, US and Australia. No British, European, American, Australia and Canadian likes to have their country flooded with illegal immigrants arriving as part of a global human smuggling cartel where much money is flowing from supposed victim to the carriers and into hands of border officials who should also be investigated for bringing illegals into the country for personal advantage.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/06/01/ltte-human-smuggling-links/

There are law offices functioning in the UK charging some 60,000 sterling pounds for Tamils to get themselves burnt with cigarette butt ends, then be medically examined by a UK doctor and then be trained on how to cry and act in front of the immigration officials to claim asylum. This is a major business racket happening in the UK. Surely British intel can and should investigate.

Credit card scams by LTTE front supporters have fleeced a lot of people as have money-laundering and many other acts of crimes LTTE fronts are involved in manipulating tax holidays and tax exemptions by registering as charities.

Western governments in a covid-19 cash strapped economy are well advised to look into the funding to foreign MPs by LTTE fronts. The loopholes in foreign systems have been masterminded by these terrorist front members.

Why are UK MPs supporting LTTE?

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2011/10/why-are-uk-mps-supporting-ltte.html?fbclid=IwAR3BLwOMkhynaF7_ZKyU9O4l1XdAMZwSqdrxFsMaN3JhOActSwVPxcFARhc

Foreign hands behind the LTTE

The foreign hands behind the LTTE

Canada please tell Canadian Tamil MPs not to promote Eelam in Sri Lanka: Canadian politicians must serve Canadian interests

Canada please tell Canadian Tamil MPs not to promote Eelam in Sri Lanka: Canadian politicians must serve Canadian interests

AUSTRALIAN GREENS – PROTECT AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS INSTEAD OF LTTE TERRORISTS

Western Governments must keep in mind that Janes Intelligence Unit claimed LTTE made an annual profit of $300m in 2004. This money was made not in Sri Lanka but overseas from the illegal and legal network of money-generating operations LTTE fronts were running while crying crocodile tears about discrimination in Sri Lanka.

Imagine how much savings LTTE fronts have made since 2009 when LTTE ground force was eliminated? Now the LTTE fronts do not have to spend on arms, ammunition, combatant welfare, feeding them, clothing them etc. How much savings are they making now since 2009? What are they doing with all this money? Where do they bank all their money? Who doesn’t want to know?

We don’t need to be repeating that terrorists are terrorists. They are united by the thirst to kill, to commit mayhem and to fleece people. LTTE has killed not only people in Sri Lanka. They have committed murder and mayhem overseas. They in fact assassinated the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and many more even before and after killing Rajiv Gandhi. Many say this was on a contract. Plenty of LTTE snipers who ran away with the help of LTTE fronts are now living overseas. As they become richer and richer their sadism increases to return to commit heinous crimes – this time not in Sri Lanka but overseas.

The enemies can easily contract them and LTTE fronts can never be underestimated.

It is really the choice of foreign governments to allow LTTE fronts to fleece their citizens and even cause future harm. Follow the money trail. Follow their demands. Follow the foreigners supporting them & their bank accounts. This is no favor to Sri Lanka but a favor to foreign citizens whom foreign governments are bound to protect.

Western countries invited our enemy to their shores. Western countries should deal with them appropriately before they get out of hand.

Shenali D Waduge